Burt Minor, the chairman of Illinois’ Winfield Township and a Republican candidate for the Illinois Legislature, is refusing to step down amid calls from members of his own party.

He allegedly used the N-word several times while speaking with fellow GOP member and attorney general candidate Erika Harold who is black.

After asking Harold if she was married, Minor also allegedly said, “Well then, are you a lesbo?”

“I told him I was not, but I also made clear that in our party, someone’s sexual orientation should not be used to disqualify them from running for public office,” Harold told the Chicago Tribune. “I think he seemed a bit taken aback that I stood up for myself in that way, but it was very important for me to let him know that I thought that line of questioning was inappropriate.”

In a letter to state Republicans, Illinois House leader Peter Breen wrote that Minor confirmed the details of the conversation and his use of the slurs to Breen. Breen says that Minor claims he had a good reason:

“At an in-person meeting that Mr. Minor requested with me, with a witness present, Mr. Minor confirmed that he had asked Ms. Harold if she was a lesbian and that he had used the full n-word in her and her assistant’s presence. He explained this away by claiming that Ms. Harold “wanted him to ask the question” about her sexual orientation and claiming that Ms. Harold asked him to say the full n-word. Suffice it to say, this is not how the other participants to the meeting heard or understood the statements, nor how they reported those statements to others both immediately after the meeting occurred and consistently in the months since.”

According to Politico, Minor asked the questions so he could “get it on the record,” and he earlier insisted that he did not use the “full n-word” because he and Erika are friends.